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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28542837">Christmas Eve</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burntcactii/pseuds/Burntcactii'>Burntcactii</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Family In Any Form [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Herald and Jericho are Explicitly Together in this, Jericho: im gonna give these kids a christmas that is so wholesome or ill die trying, M/M, Sappy, mentions of jericho's shit childhood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:02:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,937</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28542837</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burntcactii/pseuds/Burntcactii</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He couldn’t remember a year when Christmas was happy, or even just traditionally nice. Jericho thought about Melvin and how sad she looked, too. This was her first Christmas around a family any bigger than herself and her brothers. Jericho was determined to make it a good one.</p><p>or</p><p>Jericho and Herald didn't ask to be family figures, but here they are. This is cheesy and past Christmas, but these kids are cute and deserve more fics.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mal Duncan/Joseph Wilson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Family In Any Form [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094630</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Christmas Eve</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Herald: sometimes a family can be you, your boyfriend, and his three awful hellions neither of you asked for</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jericho sighed, staring out of the window and plucking strings on his guitar in a broken tune. It was snowing out. They could see the city’s coastline from where the Titans North tower was located. Everything was covered in an icy white, it looked like a wonderland from their secluded space. Jericho glared sadly, scratching designs into the window where it’d iced. Jericho was usually the life of the tower, always playing with the tots, always hanging around Herald. Not today. He wanted to be alone.</p><p> </p><p>Jericho grew up in what could be called a stern household, to put it lightly.</p><p> </p><p>The Wilsons had <em> issues </em>.</p><p> </p><p>The problem with that was that, like most families, things were highlighted if not outrightly <em> exploited </em> during the holidays. Pop was home from work. Grant wasn’t able to sneak out and avoid everyone. Ma was forced to quit the constant drinking and smoking from the scrutiny of ‘but it’s the holidays!’. </p><p> </p><p>And Joey got to do what he’d always done best. Watch.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t remember a year when Christmas was happy, or even just traditionally nice. Every year was throwing wine bottles and screaming and cursing and hiding in Grant’s room with his hands over his ears and tears stinging his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>The tension before the inevitable fallout was worse, somehow. The pregnant pauses, the tension in everyone’s veins. They all knew something bad would happen. Ma would cop a cigarette thinking Pop wouldn’t find out, Grant would lock himself in his room, Joey would open something the wrong way.</p><p> </p><p>Joey rubbed his cheek and remembered the crack that sounded like a gunshot through the house when he hit the floor in tears. He remembered that Christmas all too well. </p><p> </p><p>Their family was hostile, for lack of a better word. <em> Cold. </em> Christmas was just another reminder that they all hated each other, or that Grant was a self-righteous soldier boy, or that Joey was just another useless mistake who couldn’t let anything be. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey.” Came the deep, smooth voice behind him. </p><p> </p><p>Joey sighed, grateful for the scapegoat from his mind. </p><p> </p><p>He forced a smile, moving a hand from his forehead outward. </p><p> </p><p>Herald gave him a small glare. “Don’t give me that. I can tell when you’re fake smiling, it’s all lip.” Herald sat next to him, getting comfortable before looking expectantly at him. “What’s up, man?” </p><p> </p><p>Jericho sighed, tension melting from his body like he’d just given up, half annoyed, half ridiculously grateful Mal could read him so easily. He gave Mal a sad kind of look. </p><p> </p><p>Mal softened in sympathy. “One of those days?” He whispered. Jericho moved to set his guitar down on the ground before sliding his legs from between them so he could scoot closer to Herald. Mal immediately raised an arm to drag Jericho into leaning on him, like it was a natural reflex. Jericho sighed, melting into him and wrapping an arm around his waist. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho wasn’t sure exactly when they’d gotten so close. It’d just sort of… <em> happened </em>. It was Herald’s room he’d been hiding in, the dull blue scheme comforting him. </p><p> </p><p>Here he was lamenting on what all his Pop had to say was wrong with him as a child, he had to fight from bitterly laughing at what he might say if he ever found Jericho in such an intimate position with a boy like Mal. A boy at all. </p><p> </p><p>“Ya wanna talk about it?” Mal asked, soothingly rubbing a hand up and down Jericho’s arm. Jericho sighed. When did he become so… <em> emotionally dependent </em>?</p><p> </p><p>Jericho lifted his hands to sign, shaking mid-air for a moment, gripping in and out like he was trying to find the signs. A familiar one came to mind. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Don’t know how to sign it. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Herald sighed. “Jer…” Jericho winced. Herald was catching on. Whenever Jericho was dealing with… issues, things from his past, things he plainly wanted to pretend weren’t there, he’d say he didn’t know how to sign it out, and Herald would leave him alone after that. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho dramatically circled his hands. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Christmas.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He hung his hands mid-air again, glaring bitterly before shaking his head. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Difficult. Bad. Cold. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Herald said, bumping their shoulders. “This <em> ain’t </em> Kentucky, alright Joe?”</p><p> </p><p>Jericho sighed, drooping his shoulders and looking away.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s <em> not. </em> ” Herald insisted. “It’s just you, and me, and the tykes here. Do you really think any of us would try and make Christmas... <em> difficult </em>, on purpose?” </p><p> </p><p>Jericho bit his lip, glaring. He <em> wanted </em> to be upset and tense and <em> ready </em> if anything bad did happen. But Mal was right, like he normally was with this stuff. Jericho thought about Melvin and how sad she looked, too. This was her first Christmas around a family any bigger than herself and her brothers, but all she could think about was how sad Jericho had looked the past week. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho made an arching M.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Melvin. Okay? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“She’s...I mean, she’s Melly, ya know? She’ll be fine.” Mal joked. “But, she misses you. They all do. I’m, I’m no good at this holiday stuff. We don’t <em> do </em> holidays in the Nth Dimension. We don’t <em> do </em> seasons at all. They’d probably be havin’ a much better time if it was you in there doing all that cheesy kiddie Christmas stuff with ‘em.” </p><p> </p><p>Jericho gave Mal a suspicious glare.</p><p> </p><p>“What? It’s not a scheme to get ya out of your self-imposed solitude, I swear!” Mal said, hands in the air in defense. “Even before all that Nth dimension, Gabriel’s horn crap- I was raised <em> Jewish </em>.” </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> So? Do that. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Herald gave him a pointed glare. “You <em> know </em> it’s too late in the year. <em> Tomorrow </em>is Christmas, the only celebration the tots’ll get is that dumb Christmas bang Rob’s havin’ at the tower.” </p><p> </p><p>Jericho sighed, holding his glare, but knowing he’d lost.</p><p> </p><p><em> Christmas bang. What will we do? </em> </p><p> </p><p>Herald smiled like the cat that got the canary. “I’ve got some ideas, you keep the squirts busy, I’ll go out and get some stuff from the city.” Jericho walked slowly over to meet Herald at the doorway, scratching his wrist nervously.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ll be okay. We all will.” Herald insisted, giving Jericho that smile he loved so much. The confident one, lopsided, so only one of his dimples showed. It’s the one that left absolutely no room for Jericho’s doubts. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho took in a deep breath before letting it out, nodding at Herald. </p><p> </p><p>Herald chuckled warmly, leaning down and running his hand through Jericho’s curls for a quick moment before giving him a small kiss. “You’re cute when ya take things too seriously.” He teased. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho scrunched his face at him, jabbing him in the side before Herald caught him from behind and started giving him small kisses to his cheekbone, making him laugh. “There’s that smile.” he said warmly. </p><p> </p><p>“Ya ready?” He asked, holding out his hand for Jericho to take. Jericho looked up, giving him a real smile this time, taking the hand and leading them out to the common room. </p><p> </p><p>Melvin was the first to spot them coming back. “Jericho!” She yelled, running at him, her brothers following suit. Herald froze, bracing for impact, while Jericho crouched down with a wide smile, catching Melvin as she ran at him and enveloping her and her brothers in a tight hug.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re back!” Melvin said excitedly, Timmy chanting ‘Back! Back! Back!’ in between laughs behind her. “You were so sad this morning, we thought we’d never see you again!” </p><p><br/>Jericho sighed sadly before shaking his head and balancing her on his hip to use one hand to sign. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Could never stay far. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Owl-eyes! Owl-<em> eyes! </em>” Timmy whined from beneath him. “Feel...better?” </p><p> </p><p>Jericho smiled, leaning down to ruffle his hair just in time for Teether to finally crawl his way over to them, cooing and grabbing at Jericho’s tunic. </p><p> </p><p>“You good if I go get supplies?” Herald asked, already pulling out his trumpet. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho waved him away, picking up Teether and setting him on the counter, the other two children following with interest as Jericho dug through their fridge. </p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing? What are we doing?” Melvin asked urgently, inspecting the various ingredients and tools Jericho was steadily pulling out.</p><p> </p><p>She couldn’t see the determined glare on his face as he did so. His childhood, his holidays, were a living nightmare. He’d be damned if he continued the cycle. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho finally pulled out the last of what they needed, picking Timmy up to set him on the counter next to teether and pulling a stool next to himself for Melvin. </p><p> </p><p><em> Don’t you want to make cookies for Santa? </em> He signed, carefully spelling out words Melvin hadn’t learned just yet. </p><p> </p><p>When she recognized what he’d signed, she excitedly gasped and started jumping up and down, pigtails bobbing. “Really? <em> Really? </em> Cookies! We’re gonna make <em> cookies </em>!” </p><p> </p><p>The boys started cheering too, Timmy immediately reaching over for the cutter shaped like a tree. “I wanna make the tree ones! I wanna make the tree ones!” </p><p> </p><p>Jericho smiled, something warm in him spreading as he showed Melvin how to stir while he dumped ingredients together. </p><p> </p><p>When Herald came back he was shocked at the strides Jericho had made in one night. There was a small fort with Christmas lights haphazardly hung from it’s top in the living room. Paper snowflakes were taped in bursts along the walls, obvious which Jericho had done versus the tykes. Herald found a large plate of cookies laid out on the kitchen island, hurriedly stuffing one in his mouth before heading over to where the TV was still going, faintly playing the ending to some animated Christmas movie Herald didn’t recognize. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho was fast asleep on the couch, the tots all curled up with him. Teether held protectively in his arms, Melvin curled on his chest and under his chin, and Timmy with one thumb in his mouth, the other arm splayed over Jericho, who was deeply enough asleep he was snoring. </p><p> </p><p>Herald smiled warmly at the sight before hurriedly finishing his cookie and placing a bag of things he’d gotten from the city down, gently nudging Jericho until he stirred awake, lazily blinking at Herald until recognition painted his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“C’mon, we should move ‘em to the beds.” Herald whispered, scooping up Melvin and Timmy and letting Jericho slowly trudge around with Teether held close in his arms. </p><p> </p><p>After they’d managed to put them all in beds and detach Teether with some difficulty, walking back to Herald’s room and shuffling under covers, Jericho yawned and let all his weight fall into Herald, lazily pointing at the bag he’d brought. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I got some stuff for tomorrow. How ya feel about, uh, hair accessories?” Herald said, laughing when Jericho gave him a tired glare. </p><p> </p><p>“I do have something ya might like.” He said, turning to shuffle through the back before pulling out a small green plant. Jericho rolled his eyes and snorted at the mistletoe. “What? It’s tradition!” </p><p> </p><p>Jericho huffed again, slapping the plant out of Mal’s hands before leaning over to kiss him, running his hands behind Mal’s neck and sighing into the kiss. </p><p> </p><p>Herald gave him that dopey spaced out smile he always did when they kissed. The one that made Jericho both melt and laugh. It signaled Herald’s intense immediate emotions but also the absolute zero percentage of brain activity. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho snuggled up to Mal, getting comfortable for sleep. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey.” He whispered, rubbing his fingers up and down Jericho’s back and relaxing him. </p><p> </p><p>Jericho gave a noncommittal huff. </p><p> </p><p>He could feel Mal smile, leaning down to place a kiss on his head. “Merry Christmas, Joe.” </p><p> </p><p>Jericho smiled to himself. It was.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this is REALLY cheesy but I like them. and I like the family dynamic.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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